Scandalous
by HannahbananaJane
Summary: Daniel had a strict rule against befriending students. That was why he didn't learn the names of his students. At least, that was before Kate walked into his life. Two unlikely people find a friendship against the ethnics of society. But what happens when the feelings start to grow into something other than friendship? How much is he willing to risk for the woman of his dreams?
1. Prologue

**I'm alive! Lol, it's been awhile since I published anything for Perception. Now, this is an idea that I've been going back and forth with since Christmas, but I finally decided to publish it. Chapter one and two are complete, three is almost finished, and four I've made some progress.**

**Lately I've had a lot of people reading Early Days and I considered updating that, but Scandalous is basically a more improved version of Early Days. I can't seem to write anything Daniel/Kate without being romantic. **

**While I have the next two chapters done, I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to update. I start school on Monday, I have to read two books and write an essay before next Thursday, my mom is having surgery this Friday, and my aunt and her kids (who I love to death, but honestly they drive me crazy sometimes) are coming tomorrow to help us in the aftermath of Mom's surgery. And when you have an OCD Aunt coming over, your parents are very insistent that the house be spotless that way she doesn't spent her entire visit cleaning (and the house is a mess considering we just got from the beach and while we were gone by brother had a ton of friends over and trashed the place, but that's another story). Anyways, the point is that I'll try to write and update regularly, but I'm the world's worst person when it comes to that, so I make no promises.**

**_Prologue_**  
His favorite class to teach was always the one filled with freshmen, especially at the beginning of the semester. They were always wide-eyed and eager, ready to impress. The older they got, the less willing they became to work hard for a good grade and by the time they were seniors, over half were skipping classes to sleep late and party all night.

That wasn't his only reason for favoring the youngest. He loved that they were excited about learning and improving their knowledge and just thrilled about college in general.

There were downfalls, naturally. Sometimes they could be really immature or be too ignorant to learn. Or how annoying it was that they were always expecting a scandal, practically praying for one. They eyed all the young(ish) professors, trying to tempt them to cross the line from teacher-to-student and into something more dangerous, something that could potentially get them fired. They studied all their instructor's interactions with every student, trying to find anything juicy enough to spread.

In the four years he had been teaching, he had a few fellow employees lose their job, family, and respect over a fun, uncomplicated relationship with a student and Daniel always felt disgust when looking at them. He simply couldn't fathom why one would risk essentially their life- or at least all they lived for- for a meaningless affair. Or, if it was something meaningful, why not just wait until the student was out of their class? It puzzled him.

On some level, Daniel kind of understood. Staring at young, attractive women all day without being able to say or do anything that could potentially be twisted into something it wasn't could be difficult sometimes, but he knew he would never risk anything for a relationship with a student.

Or at least he thought so.

Until the day Kate Moretti walked into his life.

**Not much plot, eh? I'll post the next chapter by tomorrow at the latest. And the chapters are way longer this is; this is just the prologue, and the guinea pig to see if anyone else is intrigued by Kate being in Daniel's class as much as I am.**

**On another note, is anyone else a fan of King and Maxwell? I was so excited when I heard about the show; I read the first book before and loved it, I just haven't gotten around to reading the rest yet. I can't believe the season is already over. Hopefully it gets renewed! And I can't believe some people believe the two leads don't have chemistry; watch the last episode and tell me you don't feel sparks!**

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 1

**It would probably be a good idea if I gave people a chance to read my first chapter before posting another one, but I figured I would go ahead and post this right now. Hopefully you like the prologue enough to come see this chapter!**

**Chapter One**

Her first day of college already sucked.

Kate swore that she set her alarm clock for seven, giving her plenty of time to make her ten a.m. Intro to Psychology class. Except her alarm clock didn't go off at seven; it didn't go off at all.

Kate's roommate, a friend from high school, woke her up at nine-thirty with a questioning look. "Don't you have a class in thirty minutes?"

Kate gave her a blank stare as she struggled to wake up until Jess's words hit her. "Oh, shit!"

She ran to her closet and put on a pair of dark faded skinny jeans and a red top covered in graceful swirls, sliding on her faithful red converse shoes before brushing her teeth, grabbing her backpack and a piece of toast that Jess generously made for her, and rushing out the door.

Kate had mapped out the campus the day before and knew she could get to class easily in fifteen minutes. The only problem was she hadn't had her morning coffee yet and if she didn't get caffeine in her system soon, she wouldn't be able to function during her classes. So she made the risky decision to stop by the little coffee stand that she had seen about halfway between her dorm and her first class.

She was fifth in the lengthy line and by the time she arrived at the counter, she had six minutes until her class was set to begin. Kate quickly ordered her usual skim latte with two sugar-free vanilla pumps and she was grateful that it took almost no time for the professional to make her coffee.

Kate turned to rush to her psychology class with four minutes to go and shit- she bumped into someone, spilling her coffee all over him yet somehow missing herself.

Yeah, this day officially sucked.

**-x-**

Daniel was taking his time getting ready on the first day of school. His first class of the day was a freshman course and he figured it would be good for their nerves if he happened to be a few minutes late.

He walked around campus slowly, taking the long stroll to his classroom. He smiled and waved to old students while enjoying the fresh air.

Daniel decided to stop for a cup of tea before class and headed towards his favorite tea/coffee stand. It was a wide-known rule that teachers could cut to the front of the line in any stand on campus, so he began to head to the front just as a young girl paid and turned to leave. And she ran right into him, spilling her hot coffee all over him.

Daniel looked up from his now stained shirt, wincing from the pain of the hot beverage burning his skin and ready to yell at the clumsy girl. But when he looked up, he was met with the biggest pair of chocolate brown eyes he had ever seen.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

Daniel blinked, coming out of his staring contest with her beautiful eyes and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about it."

She looked absolutely horrified. "I-I'll pay for your dry cleaning, I swear!"

"It's fine, really." He glanced at the worker at the stand. "Can we get her another one, please? And also a tea, no cream or sugar."

The girl- woman- with the beautiful eyes, dark strands of hair, and exotic skin kept looking back and forth between his shirt and his face, waiting for an atomic reaction. "Accidents happen, right?" He offered.

She nodded slowly, trying to comprehend his relatively positive reaction. Did he want coffee on his shirt? "I'm really sorry. I was in a hurry and should have looked where I was going."

Daniel nodded towards her coffee being made. "Yeah, coffee sure can be distracting," he teased.

She cracked a smile as her whole face changed from embarrassment to obvious amusement. The change was extonishing (and refreshing)."Yeah, it can. I can't function without the stuff."

"You know that stuff- as you so delicately put it- is a silent killer, right?"

She playfully rolled her eyes. "I've heard. But it's so damn good. I quit drinking caffeine one time, cold turkey, and I swear I almost died."

"How long did you last?"

"Three hours," she had the deciency to look ashamed at her pitiful response.

"You need an intervention, my dear."

Daniel had no idea where this cheeky flirting came from. He had never reacted this way before, to anyone. All he knew was he was enjoying himself with this attractive young woman and she was getting him to say stuff he normally wouldn't dare speak outloud.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to stick to the addictive caffeine."

Daniel shrugged, as if to say, "it's your life."

She grinned, holding her hand out in introduction. "I'm Kate."

"Daniel," he responded, shaking her soft hand (she had such small hands) for way longer than necessary. Kate didn't seem to mind.

"Hi," she said, shyly, her face warming under his gaze.

Daniel shook out of whatever spell she cast upon him and released her hand, trying to ignore the disappointment he felt at the missing contact.

He grabbed her ready coffee and handed it to her. "Your caffeine fix, m'lady."

Something was seriously wrong with him. She was doing wonders to his flirting skills.

Kate giggled lightly, smiling up at him. "Thanks."

Daniel nodded in response. "This," he glanced at his cup of tea the worker was making, "is heathier than your cup of beans."

Her face crinkled in mild distaste. "Healthier isn't always better. Besides, isn't tea just a cup of leaves?" Kate laughed when his face fell in momentary defeat. She glanced at her watch, her eyes widening slightly. "I'm sorry, I really have to go. I-I'm late."

Daniel hide his disappointment at her leaving before realizing he too needed to leave. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Kate. Maybe we will see each other again."

Kate smiled brightly. "You too. I, uh..." her voice trailed off but she continued before she lost the nerve to do it. She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and quickly scribbled on it. "Bye, Daniel," she handed him the paper, her fingers lingering in his hand for a second too long.

Daniel stared after her retreating figure, not even glancing at the piece of paper in his hand. Once she was out of sight, he quickly opened it, eager to read what she wrote.

"We can continue this tea/coffee debate later."

She included her phone number.

**-x-**

A million thoughts were racing through her head as she walked away from Daniel. She glanced behind her back, blushing when her eyes connected with his.

She had no idea what the hell just happened.

Kate expected him to yell at her when she spilled coffee all over him, but he acted like a complete gentleman and even asked the person at the cart to make her another.

He had flirted with her, rather subtlely, but flirted nonetheless. He was interesting and Kate wanted to get to know him better. There was just... something about him.

Kate groaned outloud, earning several strange looks from bystanders. She ignored the looks and focused instead on her confusing thoughts.

Daniel was interesting and it was killing her just how tempted she was to skip her first class in college to continue to talk with him. He made her laugh and smile and even giggle like a schoolgirl. He was kind of awkward, but it was attractive, in a strange way.

Kate inwardly rolled her eyes- seriously, Kate? You only talked to him for five minutes- just as she stepped into her class, a minute and a half late. Luckily, the professor wasn't there yet, so she took an empty seat in the third row next to a seemingly attractive jock. She made small talk as they continued to wait for the tardy professor, but she wasn't interested.

All of her thoughts were focused on Daniel anyway.

The jock, Jared, was going on and on about himself (typical) when the door was shut and the chatty room went silent as the professor made his way to the front of the class.

Kate turned, eager to catch a glimpse of the professor, but suddenly took a large gulp of coffee to hide her gasp. She welcomed the scorthing sensation burning her throat.

Ohmygod.

Sweet, considerate, tea-drinking Daniel was her professor.

_Oh, shit._

**-x-**

By the time Daniel's tea was made and he was on his way to class, he was already late. He was three minutes tardy when he stepped into the class, shutting the door and enjoying the heavy silence that fell over the freshmen.

He slowly made his way to the front, his eyes moving over the different students' face. He made it to the third row when he got the shock of his career.

Sweet, beautiful, wonderful Kate who was addicted to coffee and had a witty sense of humor was in his class. She looked extremely nervous, apparently already realizing who he was, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed with what looked like shame and embarrassment.

_Way to go, Daniel,_ he scolded himself.

Daniel ignored that for now, deciding to deal with it later (much, much later) and continued to study the students in his class.

"Hello, class. I'm Professor Pierce. Sorry that I was late this morning," he glanced at Kate to let her know he wasn't upset, "I ran into someone who so kindly spilled coffee all over me."

Kate slid further down into her seat while the rest of the class chuckled as they saw Daniel's stained shirt, not realizing the clumsy person they were laughing about was their classmate.

Daniel somehow managed to get through the class without looking at Kate (much). He tried to avoid even glancing at her, but those brown eyes just captivated him and drew him in.

When he dismissed the students, he noticed Kate lingering by her desk as she very slowly put her binder back in her bag. Once the last student left, she gave up the pretense of looking busy and walked to his desk, studying the tiled floor instead of looking at him.

Daniel broke the tense silence, clearing his throat and causing her to look at him. "I, uh..." he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, keeping his hands busy. "I didn't know you were my student. But I shouldn't have," he searched for the right word, "chatted with you like that. It was inappropriate and I'm sorry."

Kate frowned slightly, clearing disagreeing with something that he said. "It wasn't just you. I probably should have checked to see if you were one of my professors before I," her cheeks flushed, "gave you my number."

Daniel pulled out the piece of paper she gave him and handed it back. "It's probably best I give this to you."

Her frown deepened. "Can we not be friends?"

"Absolutely not."

Daniel inwardly winced at the offended look she shot him (okay, not his best response). "Why not?"

"Kate, I want to be your friend, okay? I like you and I think you're easy to talk to and you're interesting. But if we become friends, especially with you in my class, people will talk and rumors will spread. Once the rumors are too loud for the officials to ignore, then we will both we questioned and practically interrogated into admitting we have some kind of affair going on."

"Who cares what people will say? If we don't have an affair- which we won't- than they can't prove anything because there is nothing to prove. I'm not going to let other people define who I can be friends with."

Names and faces of professors whose lives had been ruined from situations like this that lead to affairs flashed through his mind, and- while we knew it would be smart to listen to his subconscious- he couldn't turn down Kate's hopeful face. Besides, she had a point. A, why let somebody control who you could be friends with and B, they weren't ever going to get romantically involved (even if he had a teeny, tiny crush on her), so none of this really mattered.

Daniel slid the slit of paper into his briefcase, causing a smile to appear on Kate's face. "We have to be careful, Kate."

A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. "Secretive, even?"

Daniel nodded. "While you are in my class, we need to be discreet."

"Well, I want to be a cop, so," she grinned, "I could use the practice at being sneaky."

Daniel tried to hide his grin. "I'm serious."

"So am I." Kate stared at him, trying oh so hard to get him to show his barely hidden grin.

He rolled his eyes, his small smile leaking out. It wasn't large, but she would take what she could get.

Kate groaned when her phone beeped, alerting her that her next class started in thirty minutes. "I, uh... have to go."

Daniel nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I have a class in an hour anyways."

"Do you wanna get tea tomorrow?" Kate asked, staring at his wooden desk, only glancing up when he responded.

"You'll drink tea?" Daniel asked incredulously. He had gotten the vibe that she didn't like tea all that well.

"I'll drink coffee."

Yeah, he figured.

"Sure."

Kate looked surprised, like she was truly expecting him to turn her down. "Yeah?"

"Well somebody has to enable your unhealthy coffee addiction." She childishly stuck her tongue out in response. "On one condition."

"What?" She asked suspicously.

Daniel did his best to look completely serious as he responded, "you have to promise me to... drink your coffee this time instead of dumping it on me."

Kate threw her head back in laughter, her adorable dimples making an appearance. "Deal."

_What in the world was he getting himself into?_

**When it comes to people reading what I wrote, I'm a nervous wreck, so can you please review and tell me what you thought?**


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